1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical interconnection arrangement and more particularly, the present invention relates to an interconnection arrangement that enables interfacing between twinaxial connections and coaxial connections.
2. Description of the Related Art
Backplane systems are comprised of a complex printed circuit board that is referred to as the backplane or motherboard, and several smaller printed circuit boards that are referred to as daughtercards, which plug into the backplane. Each of the daughtercards may include a chip that is referred to as a driver/receiver. The driver/receiver sends and receives signals from driver/receivers on other daughtercards. A signal path is formed between the driver/receiver on a first daughtercard and a driver/receiver on a second daughtercard. The signal path includes an electrical connector that connects the first daughtercard to the backplane, a second electrical connector that connects the second daughtercard to the backplane, with the second daughtercard having the driver/receiver that receives the carried signal. Various driver/receivers being used today can transmit signals at data rates between 5-10 Gb/sec and greater. The limiting factor (data transfer rate) in the signal path are the electrical connectors that connect each daughtercard to the backplane. A need thus existed in the art for a high-speed electrical connector capable of handling the required high-speed transfer of data.
The need for a high-speed electrical connector capable of handling the required high-speed transfer of data has been met by the connector disclosed in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/234,859, filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Sep. 5, 2002, entitled “Interconnection System”, and bearing a common Assignee to that of the present application, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present application. This connector 2200, as illustrated in FIG. 1, in conjunction with interposers 2300 as illustrated in FIG. 2, allows multiple high-speed interconnections between two circuit boards utilizing multiple twinaxial connections. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the connector of FIG. 1 interfaces with the PC board 2600 via the interposers 2300. The interposers 2300 utilize a plurality of spring contacts to electrically connect the twinaxial cable ends of the connector to mating contact points on the PC board 2600.
It was found, however, that a need arose for an interconnection arrangement to electrically test the PC board 2600 via the mating contact points. It was also found that a need arose for adapting the twinaxial cable so as to electrically test it using commercially available test equipment having only coaxial cable connectors. Still furthermore, a need arose for an interconnection arrangement to electrically connect spaced apart PC boards so as to enable high-speed data transfer therebetween utilizing semirigid or flexible cables.